Index frame assembly



June 22, 1937. J RAND 2,084,454

INDEX FRAME ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 22, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet l (ZZZ 77w. JZ

June 22, 1937. .1. H. RAND INDEX FRAME ASSEMBLY 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 22, 1934 4 4 4 7M A 1 //w// ,H L 7 W/ 0 M I 1 I I I l l 1 1 l In w IML v 1 a...) 1 E :1 n I June 22,1937. J. H. RAND ,4

INDEX FRAME ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 22, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 I IIIIIIIIIIIII'F'IIYIIIIII jrza'filiar' Patented June 22, 1937 i v UNITED STATE INDEX FRAME ASSEMBLY James H. Rand, North Falmouth, Mass, assignor to Philrand, Inc., North Falmouth, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application August 22, 1934, Serial No. 740,954

8 Claims. (01. 129-34) This invention relates to an improved index device and more particularly to an index frame, especially such a frame of the book type. Certain forms of index frames or panels are char- .5 acterized by opposite recesses or channels receiving the supports for index sheets or elements which are arranged in overlappingrelationship. The present invention affords an improved frame of this type which may be formed of sheet metal,

preferably with separate frame portions or leaves combined to afford a book assembly. This assembly may include leaves arranged to receive index material bordered by flanged or beaded edge portions of the corresponding leaf so that these edge portions meet substantially to enclose the index material when the book is closed. If desired, a plurality of book sections may be arranged in juxtaposition with adjoining leaves disposed back to back so that aseries of leaves may be combined in a single assembly with certain leaf portions having index material on both sides thereof. The present invention affords an improved arrangement of the edges of the leaf elements or frameportions, providing a strong relatively deep beaded edge portion which also affords a channel or guideway for theindex holders- This invention also provides an improved. hinge arrangement which permits firm and sturdy connection of the successive leaf sections and which allows successive book units to be secured to each otherso that a series of units may be arranged in a single assembly with the backs of adjoining leaves in direct engagement.

This invention furthermore provides a hinged 3 cover or retainer detachably received by the channel flanges at each side of each frame portion and having a flap or plate normally engagingthe uppermost index sheet to hold the sheets in proper superposed, overlapping relationship.

Preferably this cover or retaining member may be held in frictional engagement with the flanges at the sides of the frame so that it may be adjustably positioned along these flanges. For this purpose a support of resilient metal may be con- 5 nected to the cover plate, having split end portions frictionally engaging the opposite flanges of the frame. The support may also be provided with means to engage the upper edge of the upper indexsheet element to prevent the cover slipping over, this element.

' In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is afront elevation of an index frame assembly constructed in, accordance with this invention, a portion of the outer leaf being removed;

2 is a broken side elevation of such an assembly;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section indicated by line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. lis an elevationalview of the upper part 5 of a book section with a portion of the retainer folded upwardly and broken away at the righthand side of the figure and with certain parts removed;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view showing, a corner 10 portion of the book in its open position and show ing a retainer tilted to the position which it may occupy as it is being removed or inserted in the frame; Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of a portion of 15 the frame and the retainer assembly;

Fig. 7 is a similar view showing the manner in which the index elements are mounted in the frame; and

Fig. 8 is a section on line 88 of Fig. 4. 20

Certain features of this invention are generally applicable to index panels or frames of the ty e which may be kept on a desk, inserted in a suitable rack or supported on a swinging or rotatable mounting, such a panel or framebeing characterized .by opposite flangescooperating with the adjoining body portion of the, panel proconveniently kept upon the desk of the user. 40

.As shown in Figs. 1, .2 and 3, each book assembly comprises a pair of. frames or leaf elements I, havingbody portions 2 of sheet metal provided withintegral marginal beads 3. Each of these 7 beads is provided by bendingthe sheet metal out- 4 wardly to provide a portion inclined at an obtuse angle to the body portion, 2 and providinga curved portion 4 spaced from the portion 2,,as well as by bending the metal inwardly from the portion 4 to provide a section 5. substantiallyper- 5 pendicularto the section 2, and finallyby bending the metal at right angles to afford a flange. 6 in spaced parallelism to. the edge 'of the. body por- .tion 2. Thus a strong reinforcing bead. is. provided upon each of the long vertical margins of 55 the frame element I, and each flange 6 cooperates width the adjoining portion of the body portion 2 in providing a' channel 1 to receive the ends of r I holders upon the index elements. V j p I-Iinges l2 connect the members I to each other. These hinges l2"are provided with-knuckle por- =tions l3 (Fig; .1) which may comprise elongate pintle pins 14: about which the metal from; the

-. I Opposite hinge portions-or leaves is turned, thus affording a hinge somewhat resembling'a piano hinge- When the leaves or panel elements I are disposed in their ordinary closed-positions, as

shown in Figs. 1,2 and 3, thecurved-portions 4 of; beads 3 may be in close juxtaposition,- thus closing the edges of the assembly so that the.

index material is protected. In this position of the parts the hinge I2 has'leaf portions or sections l5 disposed in planes at an obtuse angle to each other and has its pintle pin or rod l4r disposed inwardly of the angle thus defined'and ad'- joining the curved portions 4;of the-marginal beads 3.

tending upon opposite sides of the body portions Qflanges I5 are slightly inturnedi as indicated at i h I 5 'The flanges j 5 and the rivets l6 which may have' fiat heads 'afiord thin, relatively flat' as- {2 of the leaf sections andsecured thereto by a series of rivets IS. F The inner extremities of semblies so that the thickness of the panel sections' is not substantially. increased thereby.

r If desired, a series of thebook assemblies may be connected to eachother in the portion l in back-to-backfrelation to provide a plurality of.

these units in a single assembly. For this pur pose, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the'adjoining hinged marginsof the leaves andthe corresponding flanges 'IS 'may be secured to each other 'by rivets l6? and the outer edges of the 'juxtaposed leaves may be secured to each othe by rivets "(see Fig. 4). V r

. The beads 3 in effect afford 'flangesof apprefciable depth so that the index'sheets or elements maybe received betweenv thesefflanges without protruding substantially thereabove andjso'that the book may be fully; closed despite a. substantial amount of index material contained therein.

" Z This index material may be of various typ s, prefports or holders 2| are preferablyso shaped'that F the upper edge of oneindex element 20 is disposed erably being in the general form of indexsheets 20 ofpaper-(Fig.' 5 with supports 2| having ends 22 received in frictional engagement with the flanges-6, i. e. withinthe'chan'nels 1. The supabove; the holder ofthe next' element; thus. providing an; arrangement of superposed partially overlapping elements as shown in'Fig. 8. If desired, the holders 2| may beof .the 'typedisclosed in my copendingapplication serial' No. 667,810,

filed Apr. 25, 1933, which has since matured into co;

.In order to assure theproper retentionof the Patent No. 2,065,738,'dated Dec. 29, 1936.

index material in'place it'is desirable to provide a suitable cover .or1retainer30. This retainer may include a swinging plate 3!, preferably of sheetmetal, which is pivotally connected to a sheet metal, support 32.: The latter preferably is formed froma return bentpiece of sheet metal with the return bent portion disposed at its lower 3B, Figs.;6 and'8,,thejmetal adjoining. these slots the plate 3|.v

edge andhaving one of. its legsturned around apintlepin 39 to afford the hinge connection with Thereturn bent portion of the member 32i's preferably cutaway to provide slots 7' being slightly flared to afford such aneffective Width to the bent portion of the memberiu, that The portions l5 have flanges. ex-

2,0 4,454.. 7 h h V f it will positively engage the edge of the uppermost index element 20. Thus any possibility of the curved sheet metal element slipping by the upper. edge of anindex sheet or its holder is avoided,and

danger of wedging or jamming of these parts is *obviated. The ends of the element 32 are preferably split to provide slots 38 engaging theflanges 6, the member 32 being arranged so that itsop:

,. posite legs engage these fianges with africtional contact tending'to 'holdfthe retainer 30' in'the desiredadjusted position. When it is desired to remove theretainer,fromthefianges it can be' a tilted to substantially :the position illustrated 1 (Fig; 5 Obviously the plate 3| maybe swung upwardly -.to the-positionshown at the right of Fig. 4 to afford ready access to the index elements 28 as desired. J

' At the lower edge of each leaf l asuitable card may have tabs received in the channels I and act as a stop engaging the support forthe lowermost index element. Thus the index elements are held in closely. superposed partially overlapping relationship with the lower element engaging .this card'and with. the upper element passing,

do'wnwardlyby the retainer 30, the edges of the index sheets and the retainer being juxtaposed to the marginal heads 3 of the frame.

At the upper and lower edge of each panel aS-i,

sembly inturnedears 40 may be afforded above and below the ends of flanges 6 and flat, generally tubular elements 4 I, which may conveniently be formed of metal or transparentmaterial such as celluloid, may. have their ends engagingthese ears 40. The tubular elements maybe'bent or bowedand then removed from the ears. At the 'upper ends of the leaves, they may be formed of celluloid and may support any suitable identifying slip 42. This arrangement and further developments thereof are more fully disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 740,953, filed A11- gust 22,1934. At the bottom of each of the panel elements, the card 60 (Fig. 1) may'havela depending extension 6| disposed behind element 4| and lateral-extensions 62 resting .on this element.

It is evident that this invention affords an 1 7 unusually sturdy and simple index frame or panel and particularly a book assembly which maybe 7 formed 'of such panels, .the formation" of the beaded edges of the panels being particularly ef-' fective and advantageous when employed in such an assembly to afford elongate stopsto hold the body portions of the panels spaced when 'thebook is closed and alsoproviding tray-like recesses for the index material. The flanges 6,being disposed in closelyspaced relation to the body portion 2 of each leaf I, permit theedges of the cards or sheet elements 20 to be disposed in closely spaced relation to the body portion of eachleaf, as illustrated, for example,"in Fig. 7. If desired, frames -of this general type maybe provided in different widths but with the flanges 6 thereofhaving edges spaced at a uniformfstandardized distance. Thus when relatively wideleaves were provided, the flanges 6 would be relatively wide, with their edgesspaced atthe same distance from each, other as the edges of narrower flanges provided plete enclosing of the edges of the material',"but

also. avoids objectionable projections which. are

likely to catch upon or scratch surrounding, ob-

jects or the hands of a user of the index.- ;These hinges are furthermore advantageous in permitting the assembly of a plurality of book sections in superposed relation, as may be desired. The arrangement of the flanges which retain the in dex sheets or holders in place also cooperates with the retainer which may be readily removed, if desired, to facilitate more convenient handling, insertion of or removal of the index sheets or elements.

I claim:

1. An index frame comprising a body portion of sheet metal, and marginal flanges upon opposite edges of said body portion, each flange including an outer wall at an obtuse angle to the body portion, a curved bead portion in spaced relation to the plane of the body portion, an inner wall extending inwardly substantially perpendicular to said body portion, and an extension of said inner Wall disposed substantially at right angles thereto and in parallel juxtaposition to the body portion, said inner wall and its extension meeting at a corner which is juxtaposed to the outer wall adjoining the body portion.

2. The combination comprising an index frame having opposite substantially coplanar flanges to receive index material, and a support formed of return bent sheet material having slits at its ends so that faces of opposite sheet portions frictionally engage opposite faces of the flanges.

3. The combination comprising an index frame having oppositely disposed, inwardly extending flanges to receive index material, and a retainer including a support formed of sheet material bent back upon itself and a plate pivotally connected to said support, the ends of the support being provided with slits so that the opposite portions of the retainer engage opposite faces of the flanges.

4. An index assembly comprising an index frame having oppositely disposed, inwardly extending flanges to receive index material, and a retainer part formed of sheet material bent back upon itself, the ends of the part being provided with slits so that the opposite portions of the retainer engage opposite faces of the flanges, the return bent portion of said retainer being provided with cut-away flared openings to engage the upper edge of an index sheet or the like.

5. An index assembly comprising an index frame having oppositely disposed, inwardly extending flanges to receive index material, and a retainer including a supportformed of sheet material bent back upon itself, and a plate pivotally connected to said support, said bent portion of said retainer being provided with cut-away flared openings to engage the upper edge of an index sheet or the like.

6. An index frame assembly of the book type comprising a series of leaves of sheet material, each of said leaves having opposite beaded marginal flanges formed by bending the wall outwardly and over, a portion of the inner wall of each of said flanges being extended to provide a retaining flange in parallel relation to the general plane of the leaf, each of said retaining flanges terminating in spaced relation to the upper edge of a leaf, the beaded flange being extended above said retaining flange and provided with an ear, and a flattened tubular element of distortable material disposed with its ends engaging said ears.

7. An index assembly comprising a frame having a fiat body portion and retaining flanges extending along opposite edges of the body portion in spaced relation thereto to cooperate therewith in aifording channels, a plurality of index elements having supports received in said channels and sheets extending from the supports and arranged in overlapping relationship, the frame having ears disposed adjacent its lower edge and below the retaining flanges, a supporting element having its ends supported by said ears, and a sheet member having a depending extension disposed between said supporting element and the body portion of the frame, having lateral extensions resting upon said element, and ears disposed within the channels, the upper edge of said sheet member acting as a stop to engage the support of the lowermost index element.

8. An index frame comprising a plurality of similar book assemblies, each having a pair of similar leaves, each leaf being a planar body portion, and opposite flanges cooperating with the body portion in providing a channel to receive index material, the leaves of each assembly being interconnected by a hinge including complementary hinge portions, each rigidly fixed to the corresponding leaf, a single common pintle engaged by barrel sections of the hinge portions, and fastening elements rigidly securing the hinge portions to the corresponding leaves, one leaf of each assembly having its body portion secured in back to back relation to a leaf of an adjoining assembly, certain of said fastening elements also connecting the leaves that are arranged in back to back relation, whereby a frame of any desired even number of leaves may be built up from similar book assemblies consisting of similar leaves and similar hinges.

JAMES H. RAND. 

